The upcoming studio effort is tentatively titled Buckingham McVie; it could be out as soon as May. "You know, a better thing’s never happened to me," a clearly enthused McVie told the Times. "We've always written well together, Lindsey and I, and this has just spiraled into something really amazing that we've done between us.”

Initial writing sessions for a new Fleetwood Mac album began nearly three years ago, not long after McVie returned following a lengthy retirement. Back then, the band was hoping to release their first studio project with Buckingham, Nicks and McVie since 1987’s Tango in the Night sometime in the summer of 2015. But Nicks, who is about to resume an ongoing tour with the Pretenders, has remained occupied.

In the meantime, it seemed something clicked. “Because of Stevie’s absence, there’s been a very strong link musically between Lindsey and I, where we’ve actually been able to concentrate and co-write,” McVie told the Huffington Post back in 2014. She said even those early collaborations produced "some fantastic, quite profound, quite surprising emotions. ... It knocked my socks off completely.”

They're at work back inside Village Studios, site of the sessions for Fleetwood Mac's 1979 double album Tusk. In fact, the band helped design the studio’s wood-paneled recording suite. “It feels like coming home,” McVie added.

The musical interplay between Buckingham and McVie played a signature role in songs like “Think About Me” from Tusk, as well as “Don’t Stop” from 1977’s Rumours and “Hold Me” from 1982’s Mirage. Over the years, they co-wrote “World Turning” from 1975’s Fleetwood Mac and a trio of songs from Tango in the Night.